Category: Definitions

What Is The Definition Of Freedom?

The word ‘freedom’ gets brought up a lot, by all kinds of people. But what does it even mean?

Regardless of your personal political leanings, you will likely have heard someone who agrees with you and someone who disagrees with you, talking about how their freedoms are being curtailed. Politicians of all stripes use the word frequently, often with a generic-sounding phase like, “I’ll fight for your freedoms!”

Certainly, this sounds good. We all want to be free, right? Free to say and do what we want without government interference. Of course, complete individual freedom immediately comes into conflict with other individual freedoms. My right to drive on the wrong side of the road conflicts with your right to have a safe commute.

What we say and do impacts other people, and so there have to be rules, and those rules place limits on our freedoms. The first amendment, for instance, guarantees free speech, but even free speech has limits.

Additionally, there seems to be some confusion about consequences. Free speech means you have the right to say any offensive thing you want. But other people then also have the right to think you are a jerk for saying them. Which might mean you get fired from your job, or friendships might end. You are not free from consequences of your speech and/or actions.

Most people agree that one person’s freedom does not permit them to injure or kill someone else. But what about injury to themselves? Or injuries to society as a whole? Most people seem to agree that requiring drivers to wear seatbelts is an overall good, for example, even though it limits the freedom of the driver.

How do you define freedom? Do you feel that our society is more free than not? In what ways are your freedoms being restricted? Are there times when that restriction is a good thing?

Related questions: Are you free? What makes something a human right? Freedom or security?

Who Do You Want To Be Today?

Each day is an opportunity: where to go, what to do, how to act, and so on. Have you given any thought to what today will bring?

The typical lifespan will include nearly 30,000 days. That’s a lot of days! And while some heavily-scheduled days may leave little room for improvisation, for most we have choice regarding the details.

You might, for instance, get up early; you might stay up late.  You could spend your time working, or maximize your personal time. Even if you have little flexibility, you can at least decide how to dress.

The decisions you make in the course of your day will help to define, ultimately, who you are. And the best part is that with 30,000 todays to choose from, there is plenty of opportunity to experiment with different choices. You are not locked in to one decision, and you can find what works best for you.

To make the most of all these choices, however, you might want to have some strategy going in. So rather than start each day wondering how you might want it to unfold, you may want to have a plan. Who do you want to be? Then make choices to make that person come into being.

For instance, let’s say you decide you are a little overweight, and in general not in good shape. You might decide to use a chunk of those 30,000 days to exercise more and eat more healthy food. Then you can make changes on a daily basis to reach that outcome.

In conclusion, who do you want to be today? And what decisions can you make this morning, to make that person come into being, both for today, as well as for the next month or more?

Related questions: What do you hope to learn today? Who are you? What is one thing you feel the need to do every day?

Good Trouble Or Simply Trouble?

The late U.S. Senator and civil rights leader John Lewis famously urged people to “get in good trouble”. How can we know, exactly, what “good trouble” is? How do we know we aren’t just getting in trouble?

Share why if you wish.

Good Trouble Or Simply Trouble?
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What Is Efficiency?

The word “efficiency” has seen an increase in use lately. But what exactly is it, and is it always a good thing?

While the term efficiency has been in the news recently, it is hardly a new phenomenon. When you were a student, you may have been encouraged to study more efficiently. At work, you may have been praised for being efficient as an employee.

The general idea is that you should get from point A to point B in as few steps as possible. If you can do it in, say, three steps, then doing in five steps is less desirable. Steps 4 and 5, then, are wasteful and unnecessary. Three steps is optimal, the most efficient route.

Of course, this is an overly simplified example, and real life tends to be more more complicated.

For example, let’s pretend that the project can be done in three steps, but you are more likely to make mistakes than if you were to do it in five. If you need to do the entire project over again regularly, then is three steps really more efficient than five?

Some endeavors are independent from the normal rules of efficiency. Let’s consider creative or artistic expressions. Is it possible or even desirable to write a poem more efficiently? Can creativity be regulated in some way? When brainstorming, might it not be more helpful to think in unconventional ways, even if they happen to be conventionally inefficient?

In other cases, a certain amount of inefficiency is fundamental to the process. In science, it is regularly impossible to predict how an experiment will unfold. A scientist might have to try dozens or even hundreds of approaches to problem solving before finding the right one. Each invalid attempt is not a waste, as it may very well illuminate a rule or behavior that was previously unknown, which obviously has value.

Doing things quickly is the right thing to do in some cases. But not all. Can you think of examples from your life where being inefficient was better? And if so, isn’t that approach more efficient after all?

Related questions: What is the value of inefficiency? How can we be more productive? What is waste?

Who Are You?

When a family member, friend, or colleague introduces me to someone, I often ask the person what many think is an awkward conversation starter. I ask, “Who are you?” I usually put an inflection on the word “are,” which apparently makes things even more strange. If it’s at a social gathering and they’ve come with their spouse, they may answer, “I am so-and-so’s partner.” Others assume I am asking about what they do for a living: “Oh, I’m so-and-so, and I work at such-and-such a place.”

Because they thought the question was odd, they usually ask, “Is that what you mean?” I reply that I had no preset notion about the appropriate answer. I just wanted to know how they identify themselves and what that means about their life.

I usually continue, “It could be, as you shared, how you are connected to the people here today. It could be about your job. It could be that you are a parent. Heck, it could be a unique hobby that you have. The person I am now with may perceive the question as really practical or, perhaps, existential. It could serve as, ‘What makes you tick?'”

Sometimes, their eyes light up with this clarification. One person recently told me, “As a hobby, I’m a woodworker. Mainly, I make cabinets.” This answer began a conversation I had never thought I’d be having. I know nothing about cabinet-making, so I had tons of questions.

So, now it’s your turn. Does your occupation mainly define your identity? Does family (including pets) come first? Do you aspire to be something you’re just now practicing–like, “I’m training for a marathon?” Do you have a proper work-life balance, so any take on the question is fair game? Or will the conversation become a chat about how you’re trying to work fewer hours so you can do something else that you feel needs your attention?

So, dear reader, who are you?

Related questions: What makes you you? What do you believe? How are you special? What makes a person interesting?